We only needed to average 18 km per day so we had an extra 3 days to play with. There was also no need for us to keep up with the pace set by the book. Having already had a long day yesterday, a single day trip from Porto to Vilharinho seemed inconceivable. Another 30 mins and we were in Vilharinho, the end of stage 1 in the guidebook. At 40 minutes in we reached the monastery in Vairão, a popular 1st night stop for many pilgrims. ![]() Other Routes Touched: Camino de Fátima, Camino Costa / Camino Central link at Arcos, Ecopista do Ramal da FamalaciaoĪfter a nice breakfast we left the farmhouse over an hour earlier than the previous day. Rest stops: Companhia Do Pão, Largo de Vilarinho / Restaurante Regional O Peregrino, Póvoa de Varzim Start: Casa Mindela, Travessa da Joudina, 265 ou Rua da Joudina, 427 Gião - Vila do Conde Portugalįinish: Albergue de Peregrinos, São Pedro de Rates, Rua de Santo António 138, 4570-503 Rates, Portugal Day 1 was long, hot and tiring but we were already loving our Camino adventure. She even called the local restaurant to bring us some food to have on the patio. This was a beautiful place with a friendly owner. The place had been in the same family for generations. Rather than complete the trip at Vilarinho we stopped in a lovely hotel in the grounds of an old farm near Gaio. We didn’t make it as far as the end of the first stage described in the guidebook. By the 20km point the city was well behind us and we were in the countryside that would be our host for the next 2 weeks. We passed through the outskirts of the city, nice villages, motorway crossings and an industrial zone. The rest of the day was quite diverse as we followed the route from the Old Town. Pilgrimages need some suffering but we weren’t planning on doing that on the first day. Stamp #2 came from a cafe in Rue das Flores where we had a relaxing breakfast before restarting at 10:00 having only travelled 0.5km so far. From here we picked up the first of what would be many thousands of yellow way-mark arrows that pointed to Santiago. ![]() We left the apartment to be back at the Cathedral in time for the 9:00 bells. Rest stops: Jeronymo, Rue das Flores / Cafe Simpatia, Leça do Balio / Café CL5, Vilar de PinheiroĮlevation Change: +444m / -462m. There were new adventures to come in the morning.įinish: Casa Mindela, Travessa da Joudina, 265 ou Rua da Joudina, 427 Gião - Vila do Conde Portugal For now a nice evening walk and a Cataplana (fish stew) was enough. This is a truly beautiful city and one I could spend a week getting lost in. We’d been here a couple of times before so we could relax knowing that we didn’t need to cram in all the sights. The apartment was a great place to explore the riverside of Old Porto. Over time they had been built over and forgotten about only to be found again when this building was being renovated. The wall has been built in the 1200s to protect the Cathedral during a war. The bedroom had an old part of the stone wall and some Cathedral steps exposed in the bedroom. Our apartment was 3 minutes from the Cathedral door and in a old renovated building hugging the cliffs by the river. We stopped by and got our first stamp for our Camino passport. Our destination station, Sao Bento conveniently gave us a walk past the Cathedral on the way to our apartment. Rather than taking a taxi from the airport as we would have normally done, we got the Metro. Throw in the 2 country, 2 time-zone factor and I was completely convinced. The section of the Camino Portuguese from Porto to Santiago would fit nicely into a 2 week window. A true Pilgrimage experience, whether it’s religious, spiritual or simply a personal journey needs at least 2 weeks. She had already done a couple of Caminos and convinced us that 1 week was not enough. Our plan came together when we talked to our friend Adina. Timea quickly realised what I was up to and vetoed that idea immediately. I even researched the dates of the Bull Run in case we could “accidentally” arrive for the start of the event (and it would be rude not to take part). ![]() On studying the route of the Camino Frances I worked out that the section from St Jean Pied de Port to Pamplona could be an option. We still weren’t in a position to take 6 weeks off so we discussed how to get a 1 week Camino taster. Sometime in 2018 she decided that she definitely wanted to do a Camino too. The tipping point was when my wife Timea also got the adventure bug. I got married and, unlike a lot of post-marriage men, I became even more adventurous. A Camino remained something I would do “in the future”. I’d only considered doing it as a single trip but taking 6 weeks off work wasn’t something I was keen to do. Since then the 800km Camino Frances was firmly lodged in my bucket list. It was probably around 13 years ago when I read The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho. I can’t even remember when I first got excited about walking a Camino.
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